On the Corner of Godric Street and Gryffindor Avenue
by Fire The Canon
Summary: After receiving a letter from a mysterious Severus Snape, Bathilda Bagshot agrees to a meeting. For what, she is completely surprised. Trigger warning for end.


_**Written for the 335 Pairing Bonanza Challenge (TobiasBathilda)**_

_**Written for the Take a Prompt, Leave a Prompt Challenge**_

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**On the Corner of Godric Street and Gryffindor Avenue**

A breeze swept the leaves from the ground, sending Bathilda's hair into a frazzle of wisps of brown and silver. She shivered slightly as she stood on the corner of Godric Street and Gryffindor Avenue.

A letter had been sent in the post only an hour ago with the scribble of a teenager on a ripped piece of parchment. It was by a boy called Severus Snape, who had asked if she could meet his father in the exact location where she stood.

Bathilda had never met the boy, but the name Snape rang a tone of truth in her heart. She had heard the stories – the tragic life from Albus – and so she agreed.

She waited for another five minutes or so before a carriage pulled up in front of her. It was a magnificent looking structure with gold edges and the doors made just of glass.

Squinting, Bathilda tried to get a glimpse of who was inside, but she surmised it must have been some kind of magic preventing her from doing so.

She stood and waited for a moment before a man of about forty stepped from the carriage. His appearance opposed the glamour of the carriage, and the look on his face was that of a snarl.

Bathilda needed to hold her breath to supress the reek of alcohol that emitted from him.

"Mr Snape?" she asked.

The man nodded, looking her up and down with a scrupulous expression.

Bathilda glanced toward the carriage again, expecting another to step out, but nothing happened.

"There is nobody in it," the man answered. "Just me."

Bathilda looked back up to the man she now knew as Tobias Snape. "May I help you?"

For a moment, Snape was silent, his black eyes narrow and intimidating. After a moment, though, he reached back into the glass carriage and showed Bathilda a book.

Her eyes widened at the sight of it, for she had not seen the book for a very long time.

"Many years ago, when I was attending a university and studying history, this book was my lifesaver." He flicked to a page with a large picture on it. "I read it like I breathed air."

Bathilda was rendered speechless.

"This… this author… this Bathilda Bagshot was my hero. She seemed to really know what she was talking about."

A silence overcame them as a young couple with a dog walked by. They seemed not to notice the carriage on the side of the road, making Bathilda wonder if this Tobias had felt like he was riding in thin air during his journey to Godric's Hollow.

"And then," Tobias continued after a moment. "And then, my son comes home from school one day and he leaves one of his books lying around. I pick it up to tell him where it should go, and then I notice something odd." He turns around again and reaches back into the carriage, extracting yet another book.

This one Bathilda is not surprised to see.

"I ask him about it and he tells me that this author is one of the most famous wizarding authors around, and the only book his school uses regarding history."

Black eyes stared up at Bathilda as he apparently waited for an answer.

Willing to give it to him, she nodded. "It's true," she said. "I am the author of both."

"How?" Tobias asked outright. He looked between the two books in his hands, as if he couldn't believe what was occurring.

Bathilda nodded again, willing to explain. "You see, when I was much younger, unmarried and no children, I needed something to get by. I knew – and still know – an extensive amount of wizarding history, but Muggle history was something that also fascinated me."

The Muggle man before her seemed to twitch at the word. Obviously it was a sore spot for him, Bathilda realised.

She decided to change the pace of the conversation. "So… you were a fan of my work?"

"Yes," Tobias answered. "Very much so. The others I shared classes with did not give you much credit, purely because you were unknown to them. But what you wrote, it made sense. You didn't write from a biased point of view, which so many historians do."

"I, in fact, wrote from a very biased point of view," Bathilda contended. "From a wizarding point of view."

"Well, not to me," Tobias informed her. "I loved your work, but to discover that you are the most famous historian in my son and my wife's world…."

"That's something that won't change," Bathilda said. "My past is my past."

Tobias appeared torn. His mouth opened as if he wanted to speak, but closed again when no words came out. He sighed.

"Is that all you came for?" Bathilda asked.

After a moment of contemplation, Tobias nodded. "Yes. I just needed to be sure. And now I am."

"Wonderful! Well, how about you come in for a cup of tea. I'm sure you're cold standing out here."

"No, no, I must return," Tobias spoke hurriedly, moving toward the carriage.

"Nonsense, join me," Bathilda insisted. "After all, I'm curious as to why you were so interested in my book. I knew little of its outcome after it was published."

Tobias seemed torn between the offer and the need to return home. Home, sadly, seemed to win out. "I must be going," he said, and he climbed into the carriage.

"Very well," Bathilda answered. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr Snape. It's not every day I speak to a Muggle about my work."

The man flinched, and the carriage began to move at its own accord.

Bathilda watched as it disappeared onto Peverell Road, and turned to go back home, seemingly satisfied.

"How wonderful," she murmured.

It wasn't until two days later did she read about a man who had been taken into police custody due to drunken behaviour and injuring his wife and his son.

"How horrible," she said sadly.

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_**I hope you liked. Thank you to my lovely Seeker on the Chudley Cannons, Maggie (magalina) for helping me with the plot for this :)  
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